Wednesday, May 6, 2015

It was not
the delightful tale of how Nicotiana Tabacum came to our shores in the pocket
of a friar aboard a galleon that grabbed my attention but the stunning
inventory of intricately rendered wrappers (read vestments) that fill this
edifying volume. It may look like one, but VESTMENTS OF THE GOLDEN LEAF by
Atty. Saul Hofileña,Jr, is not just a decorative book to adorn your coffee
table.

The
cigarette wrappers are classified according to provenance a device that allows
one to trace the growth and expansion of the tobacco industry after it was
demonopolized by the Spanish colonial government in 1881. With the Cagayan
Valley as the main source of the golden leaves, Binondo as the center of
manufacturing and trading, the industry engulfed Manila, then Bulacan,
Pampanga, Bicol, and the Vizayas.

Local
artists remain unknown but through the author’s magnifying glass, printers and
lithographers have surfaced– Carmelo and Bauermann (one connected with Obras
Públicas, the other with the government press), Oppel y Cia., Salvador Chofre,
Mendezona, Chicote, Cacho Hermanos, Guillermo Partier– mostly foreigners
established on Escolta, Carriedo,and
Azcarraga.

Atty.
Hofileña included famous cases notably of Paul Meerkamp van Embden whose
tobacco business became collateral damage during a World War. Rizal’s friend,
Ariston Bautista of Germinal, sued Chan Chuico for copying his “La Intimidad”
label. Alhambra Fábrica de Tabacos, Cigarillos y Picadura took Enrique Caruana
of La Yebana to court over the use of the word “chorritos”.

Most of the
traders were Chinese, but Filipino workers attempted to carve a niche.
Katubusan (redemption), an early cooperative, was open to membership for only
two pesos. Artist Jorge Pineda of Carmelo and Bauermann drew the Katubusan
image, a young Filipina crowned with sampaguitas. It appeared on the “El
Renacimiento” cover in 1910.

Vestments’
galore

by Gemma
Cruz Araneta

December 22,
2014

In vestments
of the golden leaf, authored by lawyer and historian Saul Hofileña Jr, there is
relevant data about manufacturers, factory locations, porters, exporters,
dealers, and procedures for registering trademarks recorded in Libros de
Acuerdos. Scholars interested in tracing our economic history should go
directly to this impressive book.

Interestingly,
the tobacco monopoly created a demand for female labor—dobladoras, cortadoras,
torcedoras, encajanadoras, kahistas. A full-page photo of the latter, seated on
a rough wooden chair is but a glimpse of labor conditions then. However, they
were treated to music while working, unlike their Cuban counterparts who
preferred stories read aloud to them.

By far the
most intriguing wrapper is “La Cubana” (Pedro Roxas, Calle Carvajal, Binondo)
which boldly depicts a submarine exploding a ship, obviously the USS Maine ,
blown up at the Havana harbor to provoke the Spanish-American War. The USA
blamed Spain but through his label, Roxas mutely revealed the facts.

The
signature label “La Insular” carried a quality assurance in English, French,
and Spanish; a veritable masterpiece, it rivals those delicate renditions of
ancestral homes now covetred by collectors. A pity it no longer exists like the
Fabrica de Tabacos Meisic which in 1875 employed 6,000 workers. Hofileña
included plans of that fort-like structure which later became military
barracks.

A thorough
study of Hofileña’s “vestments” reveals how manufacturers lured different
sectors in a relentless quest for market dominance. They used Rizal, local
myths, Junoesque women in flowing robes against distant landscapes, classy
Filipinas in native finery framed in Art nouveau designs reminiscent of
ilustrado homes. Men were shown in military regalia or as dandies, muscled
laborers, and farmers.

Dozens of
wrappers showed cherubic babes, little boys and girls seated on crates of
tobacco or at their mothers’ feet enjoying their first smoke. Shocking, to say
the least. (ggc1898@gmail.com)

The First Philippine
Republic & the United States
covers maps from the period of 1898, when the Americans arrived in the Battle
of Manila Bay and the First Philippine Republic was established, to 1907, when
the First Philippine National Assembly was convened.

A must-see for map
collectors and history students, the exhibit is an interesting and educational
representation of early American colonial presence in the country. On display
are not only century-old maps, but also books, photographs, lithographs, war
medals, flags and other memorabilia pertaining to the Philippine-American War.

"The exhibition was
drawn from private collections and covers the formation of the First Philippine
Republic in Malolos; the Battles of the Filipino-American War from the first
shot near San Juan Bridge until the capture of President Emilio Aguinaldo in
Palanan; the efforts of the United States to improve education, health,
transportation, and governance to win the trust of Filipinos; until the
organization of the Philippine Assembly (1907).

The First Philippine Republic
& the United States is presented by the Philippine Map Collectors
Society in partnership with Yuchengco Museum in celebration of the Battle of Manila
Bay and Philippine-American Friendship Day.